Priorities: NYC Councilman Wants Fast Food Free Zones

I have a better idea. How about keeping idiotic NYC council members away from television cameras?

A New York City councilman wants to keep school kids away from fast food -- or at least keep the fast food restaurants away from them.

Councilman Eric Gioia is unveiling a proposal that would prohibit fast food restaurants from being within one-tenth of a mile of a school. The idea comes after a study this month found students whose schools are within easy walking distance of fast food restaurants are more likely to be obese.

The study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University found that students at schools in close proximity to fast food restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut had a 5.2 increase in the incidence of obesity.

Just what we need. Importing zany idea from Berkeley.

Seems like a better idea to make schools free from bad teachers. Maybe Gioia can have a talk with his puppet master, Randi Weingarten.

It was child's play for the almighty United Federation of Teachers: Destroy attempts to reform lax tenure rules -- and then brazenly write the very law that preserved the status quo.

Last year, UFT President Randi Weingarten's powerful lobby killed a rule passed by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer -- and supported by Mayor Bloomberg and school boards statewide -- to allow principals to factor in students' test scores when evaluating teachers for tenure.

Weingarten's relentless assault so buried the issue that a special commission, which was supposed to be created to study how test scores may be used, hasn't even been convened, an apparent violation of state law.

"The commission was BS," said one veteran on the losing side of the tenure battle.

What's worse, having illiterate students or the risk of them walking by a McDonald's?

Despite Failing Schools, NYC Councilman Wants Less Homework

The worlds's most useless legislative body strikes again.

Council Member Calls for Limits On Homework

Amid growing calls for higher education standards, a City Council member is urging the Department of Education to limit the amount of homework teachers assign students each night.

Peter Vallone Jr., who represents parts of Queens, said his two daughters are routinely swamped with homework and stuck at home, slogging through it.

"As a parent, I have been unable to have fun with my kids. We can't go for bike rides. We can't go to the park. We can't go to the museum, and that's not fair," he said.

Mr. Vallone said he understands that the Department of Education is aiming to improve test scores, but he said an emphasis on homework is taking away students' childhoods and contributing to child obesity by forcing children to stay at home with their books.

He plans to introduce a resolution next month calling for homework in public schools to be limited to 2 1/2 hours a night and said he wants the Department of Education to create a weekly homework-free night.

Waaah, it's not fair!

Maybe if this idiot spent less time offering ridiculous legislation, he'd have more time to spend with his kids. And what about students who want to get ahead by studying more? Will he mandate they limit their time spent hitting the books so his kids don't suffer from a lack of self-esteem?

Then again, maybe it's a clever scheme to keep kids stupid so they keep voting for Democrats.

As we noted, hundreds of schools are failing, yet this nitwit wants less homework.

The Department of Education's plan for reducing class size doesn't go far enough to address overcrowding at 408 failing schools, advocates charged yesterday.

While the city agreed last week to direct $153 million in new state funds toward reducing class size citywide this year, its plan targeted fewer than 150 schools for more substantial interventions.

Even the New York Times recently reported there is little progress for New York City schools.

New York City’s eighth graders have made no significant progress in reading and math since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of the city schools, according to federal test scores released yesterday, in contrast with the largely steady gains that have been recorded on state tests.

Here's a suggestion for Vallone. Why doesn't he retire and home-school his children? Then he can spend as much time as he'd like with them and give them less homework than they're currently suffering with?